Cat Café seeks volunteers to come and meet its cats before it opens to the public

A Cat Café in Manchester is recruiting volunteers to come and hand out with its cats, giving staff a dry run before it officially opens its doors later this month.

In a Facebook post the café’s managers said: “We are looking for 30 people to take part in our staff training week. This will mean you will get to be the first customers through the door at Cat Cafe Manchester in exchange for your time and valuable feedback."

Anyone interested in applying needs to like and comment on this Facebook post, and 30 people will be selected at random on Friday the 15th July. Everyone selected will be allowed to bring one person with them.

“You must be available on Thursday 28th July between 10am and 4pm. You will be allocated a time slot during these periods and this cannot be changed,” the post says.

Sisters Ellie and Sophie Close have been planning their cat cafe enterprise since last year, running a successful crowdfunding campaign and winning a great deal of support on social media. It’s scheduled set to open in Manchester’s Northern Quarter on July 30

“I bring them to work with me at the moment because they just want to be around people.

“They’ve all got different personalities so the Persian won’t play but loves to be stroked, while some of the others aren’t bothered about relaxing but just love playing. It’s a nice mixture of personalities.

“People will be able to learn about the breeds and about the individual cats. They’ll even have their own Twitter profiles.”